Sourdough French Toast
This is my “special morning” breakfast.
Thanksgiving morning? Making french toast. Christmas morning? Making french toast. And I don’t mean to get you all too excited, but this girl has a birthday coming up on Monday and you better believe I will be eating this french toast for breakfast. Along with a mimosa, or two or three. Because, heck, it’s my birthday and a holiday weekend, so cheers to me!
And like a true San Francisco girl, I love sourdough french toast. Regular french toast is too much sweet on sweet on sweet for me. The sourness of the sourdough bread cuts through the sweetness of the syrup, and I don’t feel like I ate a pound of sugar for breakfast. Which even though I did probably eat a pound of sugar, the sour tricks my stomach into telling my brain it was basically a healthy breakfast. Let’s not tell my brain.
My birthday is the 17th, and it almost always falls on President’s Day Weekend, which means my birthday is usually a 3 day weekend. How lucky am I? When I was little I assumed everybody got the day off from school for their birthday. Nope, just me.
My 16th birthday was one of the rare years where my birthday was after the 3 day weekend, which meant I got to take my license test on my actual birthday. The universe is so good to me. I don’t think I could have waited another day to become a licensed driver.
This sourdough french toast recipe was one of the first recipes I was able to make without the directions or ingredients written down. When I make the batter I splash in some milk, and add in enough eggs until the consistency looks “right”. Then I splash in some vanilla and watch the batter do a little dance as the vanilla cuts through the eggs and milk. Finish it off with a few sprinkles of cinnamon and it’s done.
Since directions like that wouldn’t be very helpful to you, I actually measured everything out. Which should also be helpful to my husband because when he makes it for me he has a hard time following the recipe that only exists in my brain.
So treat yourself and make this sourdough french toast on Monday morning, enjoy your day off, and take a big nap afterwards. That’s what I’ll be doing.
Sourdough French Toast
Ingredients
- 3 cups of milk I use 2%
- 4 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 12 slices sourdough bread
- 8 tablespoons butter plus more for serving
- maple syrup
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
- In a 9x13 baking dish, make the batter by combining the milk, eggs, vanilla and cinnamon. Beat to combine.
- Heat a large nonstick pan over medium high heat. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in the pan. Dredge the sourdough bread in the batter, turning it 3 times and lightly pressing on the bread so it absorbs the batter. Cook 3 slices of the battered bread in the pan at a time. Flip the bread after the first side is crispy, about 3-4 minutes. Melt another tablespoon of butter in the pan before flipping so the second side also cooks in butter. This will make both sides of the bread crispy. Cook the second side until it is also crispy, another 2-3 minutes.
- Keep the cooked french toast warm by leaving it in the oven in an oven safe baking dish.
- Repeat step 3 for the remaining bread.
- Serve warm with maple syrup and more butter (optional). Will keep an airtight container container for 1 week. You can reheat it on the stove in a pan, in the oven, or even in the toaster.
Nutrition
Nutrition facts are calculated as a courtesy and not guaranteed.
48 Comments on “Sourdough French Toast”
Natalie, I can see that this would make for a special start to the day. I love sourdough, it makes everything tastier. I cannot wait to wake up for this.
It sure is a fantastic way to start the day Kim! French toast is one of my family’s favorite breakfasts. Making it with sourdough bread is the secret. I sure hope you enjoy it!
I’ve been working on a sourdough recipe for a few months now, and I have been looking for a way to use up the end of a loaf when I have too much that will get stale soon. This is the perfect solution! I was skeptical that sourdough would make good French toast, but I was pleasantly surprised. Definitely going to become a regular recipe for us. I thought making bread from scratch was satisfying, but this just takes it to a whole new level! Thank you for sharing!
Yeah! I am so happy you liked my sourdough french bread recipe Logan! I too was skeptical that sourdough would make good french toast, but now it is my very favorite! I am so glad this will become part of your regular recipe rotation.
Great recipe! Easy to remember, hard to mess up, and most importantly, not too sweet! (One of my old favorite french toast recipes is Robert Irvine’s, but he adds a LOT of sugar. And doesn’t use sourdough).
I topped mine with some mixed berries that I had (blueberries, blackberries and raspberries). It was good, but those berries tend to lean a bit sour as well. Next time I plan to put banana slices which I think will be PERFECTION.
Next time? Yes, because I WILL make this again. And I won’t say anything here about going to your house, because I don’t know you! lol. :-)
So glad you liked it Nicole! Thank you! My very very very very favorite breakfast. It’s what I always requested growing up for my birthday : ) Topping it with fresh fruit is a great idea! So glad you’ll be making it again. Thanks for taking the time to share such kindness with me. Means the world!
what brand of sour dough bread do you use? It looks good.
Trader Joe’s brand!
Loves it! I sub the butter for coconut oil. Though different taste, still very good.
I’m so glad you liked it Benny! And how crazy is this: I made this french toast for breakfast yesterday too WITH COCONUT OIL! Great minds think alike! We’re 100% dairy free now, and I almost like it better with the coconut oil. Thanks for letting me know you liked my recipe, you made my day!
I’ve made this 4 times in the last 2 weeks! Making it for the fifth time tonight! This is by far the best french toast I’ve ever made. Honestly I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to eat french toast at a restaurant again after having this. The sourdough makes amazing french toast and I never in a million years would have thought of it myself.
After years of trying out various recipes and different types of bread, this recipe is definitely my winner. Thank you for sharing it!
Chrissy! You have made my day! I’m so glad you love it. It’s my favorite french toast. It’s actually ruined all restaurant french toast for me. I like mine thin and crispy, but restaurants are always THICK and “mushy”. And the combo of sour and sweet is the best! You are too nice. Glad you like my recipe. Hope you have the best weekend!
3 cups of milk? Are we feeding an army? Anyone else find this an excessive amount of milk?
I’ve heard others say this is a lot of milk. But it’s how we’ve always made it in my family!
I think I just wasted 3 cups milk and 4 eggs. Did you mean 3cups milk??? Or more like 1/3 cup milk?
This looks nothing like French toast batter…
Hi Steve, the measurements are correct. This is the recipe I’ve always used for my french toast batter, and everyone I’ve made it for loves it. Keep making it, should be delicious! Have a great rest of your weekend, and thanks for reading my blog : )